


Light On Her Feet

by agnes_writes



Category: The Folk of the Air - Holly Black
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff, Post-Canon, Tags Are Hard, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:27:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21613015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agnes_writes/pseuds/agnes_writes
Summary: Jude Duarte, besides being an excellent swordsman and slyfoot, has an uncanny talent for dancing.Cardan catches her in the act.
Relationships: Jude Duarte/Cardan Greenbriar
Comments: 6
Kudos: 192
Collections: favorite on TFOTA





	Light On Her Feet

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I'm alive, I'm so sorry for being inactive, I've had the worst six months ever.
> 
> But I just read Queen of Nothing and I knew I just HAD to write something, anything, about my two favorite murder-y losers falling in love. And I was absolutely mesmerized by ballet dancing the past few days so this is the product of that. Enjoy!

Oriana was to blame, as she always was.

Faeries were obsessed with perfection, with the need to look beautiful, elegant, above and beyond.

And that was how Jude found herself in a ballet class with Taryn at a quite young age. Oriana tried to convince Vivi to join them, but after the disastrous bathroom explosion, she decided that it was a lost cause.

And so, Jude suffered.

She often envied Taryn at her natural ability to appear graceful, regal, even for a human in Faerie. The way her hands and limbs swept fluidly through the air as the piano piece hit its crescendo, landing cleanly en pointé.

But Jude was nothing, if not competitive. As she gained Madoc's affection with her skill with a blade, she gained Oriana's grudging respect with her steady determination to dance, until she could nail every single move blindfolded.

The more she danced, Jude found a strange release for hee frustations, similar to that to sparring. Pent up emotion flowed out of her once the music began, and by the end of the song she was panting, sweaty, and drained of intense emotion. Jude never quite stopped dancing, sneaking in-between her classes and her training for a song or two, to not get rusty.

But that bore no consequence to any of the things that happened to Elfhame, and so, Jude's skill in the art of dance remained undiscovered by everyone except Vivi, Oak, and Taryn.

In her exile in the mortal world, Jude found herself dancing more and more frequently, when she was not fulfilling errands for the local Faefolk. She locked herself in her small room, pulled up a song from a website called Youtube, and danced, because she could not kill nor attack. Vivi even introduced her to new music during her stay, which was a welcome change from the classical piano pieces that begun to wear on her nerves. Jude took a particular liking to a pop artist called Taylor Swift, even, taking to the catchy beats and lyrics. Jude liked to make up her own routines for the songs, her own little story in her own world, she thought to herself, where no one would understand but her.

No one knew of Jude's secret talent.

Until of course, someone did. 

Jude pulled out the tiny little device from a box in her dresser, an item she barely uses unless she needs a release and she is sure she was alone. She plugs one earbud in, scrolls through the list of songs, and presses Play.

A familiar song blares through her ears and Jude lets a small smile slip past her lips. She saw the music video for this song, Delicate, when she visited the mortal world, and managed to recreate it, even adding her own steps.

Jude closes her eyes and lets the music guide her body, letting them flow out on her own accord. When the chorus comes, Jude lets loose, performing jumps and stunts she's perfected through the years. Delicate touches on her arms, a flick of a wrist, a turn of the heel; Jude was built for this song.

The song comes to a close, and Jude was panting and sweaty when soft applause comes from behind.

She whips around to find a grinning Cardan leaning on the doorway of their room.

The door she forgot to lock.

"Bravo, my dear queen," Cardan teases, his eyes alight with amusement.

"How long have you been standing there?" Jude demands, heat rising to her cheeks as anger and embarrassment war in her chest.

"The entire time, my love. Why didn't you tell me you could dance?" Cardan asks, straightening himself. He walks to Jude, reaching out to brush the sweaty hairs off her face.

"It was never relevant to the situation at hand," Jude replies, her face still a flush of pink, but Cardan thought it to be more of shy flush than anything else, and it made him smile.

"Never relevant, huh... Well, Jude, it's quite relevant to me."

Jude's eyes shot to his, and she raised an eyebrow.

"And why is that, oh wise High King?"

Cardan's smile grew fonder, and he took strand of loose hair behind Jude's ear. 

"Because it's you. And it looked like you loved every second of that. And whatever you love... that is quite relevant to me." He leaned in and brushed a chaste smile on Jude's lips, then pulling away to gauge her reaction.

Cardan noted how vulnerable Jude looks, her eyes still closed, slightly parted as if still feeling the ghost of the kiss.

And so he kisses her again.

"And what was that for?" Jude asked.

"Advanced payment." Cardan grinned, and Jude felt wariness flood her body.

"For?"

"My dance lessons, of course. You can't expect me to let myself fall behind my Queen, can you? I'd hate to be a disappointment on the dance floor, and much less, be humiliated in front of our subjects, they'd lose what little respect they have left for me."

Jude snorted, causing Cardan to pout.

"Our subjects have quite enough respect for you, Cardan. And I never agreed to any lessons." Jude said, raising an eyebrow, which made Cardan pout even harder.

"You can't persuade me with that look, Cardan."

"I can try."

Jude doesn't know who she was kidding. She sighs and nods, glaring at Cardan.

"Alright, but if I get any hint that you aren't taking them seriously, I will kick you out of the castle."

Cardan's face bursts into a delighted smile.

"Great! And one more thing, Jude," Cardan said, pulling Jude closer. "Try to leave the door unlocked more often. I loved watching you dance."

Jude's cheeks flood with color and she smacks his arm, but she doesn't protest. 

Cardan counts that as a yes.

"Do you want to start now?"

Cardan nods, and though he knows he's wearing nothing to suit for dance, he couldn't afford to lose an opportunity to see Jude dance again.

"Well, I mean, we could start with the waltz. That could be useful for court parties."

"Lead the way, Jude."

Jude moves in front of him, puts one earbud in Cardan's ear, taking out a tiny device from her pocket connected to the earbuds with a wire, and browsing the playlist before settling on a song. She straightens as the music starts placing her hand on his shoulder and placing his on her waist. Their other hands were clasped firmly together.

The song was quite unfamiliar, the beat echoing and the singer's voice breathy, but even Cardan knew it was a love song. Jude chose a love song for them to dance to.

The smile on his face must have looked ridiculous at that point.

"Step, step, ouch—" Jude grits out, causing Cardan to blush.

"Sorry."

This repeats several times.

"Step—Cardan, don't move away from me, the earbud's..."

"The earbud fell." Cardan said sheepishly.

Jude sighs and puts it back in Cardan's ear. Much to his surprise, Jude pulls him in closer, her chin resting on his shoulder. His hands snake around her waist, and Cardan feels Jude bury her face into his neck.

"I'm afraid you're a lost cause, my dear King." Jude whispered into the crook of his neck, her breath tickling him. Cardan's heart started hammering, and his grip on Jude's waist tightened, trying to feel her warmth more than he already did.

"Perhaps I need a better teacher." At that, Jude chuckled, and the next song played.

Cardan buried his face in Jude's hair, inhaling her scent. Memorizing the feeling of her in his arms, the curve of her body. Cardan smiles into her hair. Jude smells like home.

And so, Cardan closed his eyes and swayed to Jude's rhythm.

And burned every single second of their dance in his mind.

Alone, swaying to the music only the two of them could hear.

Home.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and constructive criticism are really appreciated! Sorry for any of the mistakes, English isn't really my first language.


End file.
